


you're familiar like my mirror years ago

by unbreakable_groundriot (orphan_account)



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Garden of Eden, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Post-Canon, Role Reversal, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-24 22:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21107177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/unbreakable_groundriot
Summary: An angel and a demon were the only things left on Earth. It had been centuries or millennia or eons. They missed the humans but they had each other.“I just wish it didn’t have to end.” Aziraphale wraps his arms around his demon.“T̙͓͍͛͛͒ͅh͓̿͒͢i̢̕ş̗̻̬͇͇̄̂͂̉͒̕ ï̞̗͆s͇̦̳͒͞͠ ̡͇̖̫̫̭́̄̉͑̓͞n̫̟̑o ̩͈͓̟͗̃͌̐ę̧̖̣̀͌͌͘n̰̹̭̼͖̿͐̈̏̑ď̩̲͍̾͠.̼͎̹̳͑̈͑̿”̗̕ ̟̈́”





	1. Chapter 1

“It’s coming then,” he whispers.  
“Yes very soon. A few more hours I’d imagine. Maybe less.”  
"We could still go back."  
"A life without you is no life at all."

The angel's smile is soft and a little sad. "Extinction it is then."

They sit together atop what was once a high rise. It holds itself up out of spite and force of will. The foundation is crumbling. It stands as one of the last monuments to humanity. Nothing had survived the War to End All Wars. Humans had, as one might expect, driven themselves to extinction. Heaven and Hell really hadn’t had to lift a finger.

Crowley takes Aziraphale’s hand in his. Millions of miles away the sun continues to grow and grow the Earth grows hotter as Mercury is engulfed into nothingness.

“I would have thought it would be more spectacular.” He sighs. “But here we are...”

Below them, the endless sands shift.

First had come the War. Then the Pollution. Then the Winter. They hadn't much liked it the Winter. It had been too cold and the cries too loud. Then Death had swept through the land and all was silent for an uncountable number of years.

An angel and a demon were the only things left on Earth. It had been centuries or millennia or eons. They missed the humans but they had each other.

“I just wish it didn’t have to end.” Aziraphale wraps his arms around his demon.

“T̙͓͍͛͛͒ͅh͓̿͒͢i̢̕ş̗̻̬͇͇̄̂͂̉͒̕ ï̞̗͆s͇̦̳͒͞͠ ̡͇̖̫̫̭́̄̉͑̓͞n̫̟̑o ̩͈͓̟͗̃͌̐ę̧̖̣̀͌͌͘n̰̹̭̼͖̿͐̈̏̑ď̩̲͍̾͠.̼͎̹̳͑̈͑̿”̗̕ ̟̈́”

Crowley clutches his ears in pain. Aziraphale’s artificial breath stops.

“Y͙͇͞͡o̳̺̯̻͒̓͋͑͜u͍͔̾̒r̞͛͘͢ ̝̇w̧̖̘̄̕͡ơ̈͜ͅr̞̯͉̰̆͆͒̇k̠̣̻̝͓̉̂̎͌͛̕ͅ ̹͑i̮̊s̘͕̟̭͂̆͗͋ ̭̙̣̿̃́n̨̤̩̬̻̫̔̂̓͑͆͠o͓̍t̥̱͕̤̑̓͡ ̦̣̰͌̌͒ȏ̗v̧̚e̥̓r͇̘̠͈͖͙̿̿̊͘̕͡.̪͇̞̻͐̿́̚͟͡”


	2. Chapter 2

The clattering of weapons stops with a deafening suddenness.

The Morning Star, Lucifer, Satan-Himself stands over the Archangel Michael. Molten gold blood drips from his mouth and his long, shining blonde hair is matted with the stuff. His wings are nearly bald and his halo is distinctly split in half. There is beauty in his grotesqueness.

Michael screams as her own spear is plunged into her stomach by the demon she once called brother.

Soon the Loyalists are rounded up. Many of them still spit blood and vitriol while others cry and attempt to reason with their kin. Satan, with eyes bleeding slowly from blue to black and shattered halo piercing his forehead, judges each angel and finds them wanting.

Crawly watches the mock trials in silence. He hadn't wanted any of this to happen but the Loyalists had cast the first stone. They had lost and God had not spoken. She did show something, however. He wasn't sure if it was displeasure or pleasure. He was never sure what She was really thinking or planning. Every time a Loyalist is cast down a demon, that's what their leader was calling them now, would lose their pale wings. A sea of ten million jet black wings soon surrounds him. Demons laugh and rejoice. Some take after their leader and use their halos to carve symbols into their bodies. Some cast the rings aside altogether. Other stretch and morph them into creatures, not unlike those that inhabit Eden.

"Just guard the tree, Crawly. We can't have those beasts learning anything. We'll find a way to destroy them soon enough."

Crawly drops his halo at his feet. "All Hail Satan." He whispers.

* * *

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is situated in a spot that was absolutely perfect for sunning. Keeping Adam and Eve away from the tree is very easy when a massive red and black snake sleeps among the branches.

Crawly stretched his massive body and let out a low hiss as each vertebra crackled. He slowly shifted his body to its proper demonic form.

Eden was boring. Adam and Eve wandered around doing...well something. They made funny noises and smelled even funnier after. They played in the water and Eve especially liked to climb trees. They rarely approached his perch and, if he was to be truthful, it was the big "Do Not Touch" sign that probably scared them off more than the giant snake. The humans did not know fear like he knew fear.

He sighs and plays with his hair. He can't see what's so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil but orders were orders. Adam and Eve were not to eat from the tree. He had even tried the fruit himself. It was mealy and tasteless, but he used to say the same thing about the food in Heaven. He knew this was a punishment.

"Excuse me! Is this the Tree of Life or The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? My that is a mouthful..."

Crawly's hand pauses mid-twirl. Below him stands a stocky angel in white and gold robes. He wears a gold ring on his finger that Crawly recognizes as the mark of a soldier. Such angels had been born last and his questions about that fact had never been answered.

"The latter." He rolls over and off of the branch. His wings stretch wide to slow his fall. He lazily waves his hand and summons the black, spear he'd been handed upon his departure. Its razor-sharp head glows with white-hot flames. "What are you doing here...?"  
"Aziraphale."   
"Yes, what are you doing here Aziraphale?"

The angel frets with his hands. "I am here to guard The Tree of," he sighs as if put out, "this tree. What are you doing here, demon?"

He leans on his spear and properly takes in this angel. He hasn't seen one since the Fall. He can't say that this Aziraphale looks different at all. The demons had changed and he barely recognized Heaven when he visited to give his reports. It was too dark and cold and clean. Heaven used to be so warm.

"You don't look like much of a guard."

And he doesn't to the untrained eye. Aziraphale looks like the dandelion puffs he's seen Adam and Eve playing with. Yet his hands are calloused and those robes hide muscle. Crawly thinks he sees the angel shift uncomfortably and he can sense a healed wound.

"I am a Principality," Aziraphale replies haughtily.   
"And so am I." He points his spear at the angel who does not flinch. "You've no weapon."

They stare at each other for some time. Aziraphale's eyes are steely blue and fearless. That cold, unflinching gaze quickly changes to one of wonder as a butterfly flies between their standoff.

"Oh! What a beautiful creature!" He smiles so brightly that Crowley thinks he needs to shield his eyes.   
"Hnnk...Yeah. It is."


	3. Chapter 3

"I was meant to guard the gate."  
Aziraphale takes the slice of orange-red ruin Crawly offers him. They sit below a tree Adam had named a mango tree. Crawly takes no pleasure in eating but Aziraphale was easily enough tempted by sweet fruit plucked from every tree but The Tree.

"There's no gate." He may be misusing his staff to slice up the fruit but there is something about the angel's grateful smile that makes his heart thump hard in his ears.   
"I know... But it was my job until..." He waves a slightly sticky hand up toward the sky in a rather vague motion. "I do suppose this is better. It was very lonely."

Crawly lets their fingers brush at the next pass of fruit. "It was pretty boring here...Uh... Before."

There is something else about Aziraphale that makes his heart thump but he isn't quite sure what it is. There's a familiarity that he can't place. They had not known each other in Heaven, but his memories of the time before the War were fuzzy and dull. It feels easy and right and good to rest his cheek on the angel's shoulder. They shouldn't be this close, but it feels too right to be wrong.

He peeks up at Aziraphale to find the angel's soft cheeks pink and his mouth curled into a soft smile. His hand, slightly sticky from sweet fruit juice, gently stroke through his ringlets.

"I think I could stay like this forever."

The ground rumbles. One of the walls of Eden crumbles.

Crawly jerks up. "Oh no."


End file.
